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Select a type of literature for a unit, such as a novel or group of short stories, for the class to study. From the selection, target vocabulary words for which students will create flashcards. Create a document similar to the Sample List that includes all vocabulary words for the unit. Divide the words between the students. Each student needs to be assigned a minimum of four words to be able to share their flashcards with the class through a URL. If the reading selection is short, more than one student could make flashcards for the same words. For this lesson, A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck is used as the example.

Reserve time in your school’s computer lab or library for two sessions.

Create an account at Flashcard Machine and make a set of sample flashcards of at least four new vocabulary words. Instead of creating a set of flashcards, you can use this sample flashcard set that features vocabulary from the first chapter of A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck or search the website for a set of flashcards.

Sign up for a wiki at Wikispaces where you can create a class page for the links to websites and where you can post the links to the student-created flashcards sets. If that is not possible, make copies of the Websites printout for each computer.

If your students are thirteen and over, check to find out how many have e-mail addresses. Those who do not should sign up for accounts at any provider so that they can create Flashcard Machine accounts.

For students under thirteen, student accounts can be created using the +gmail.com concept. Create a master account at gmail.com and then use this address to create an account at Flashcard Machine. For each student account needed, create an account at Flashcard Machine using the master account plus a number. For example, if the master account is mrsbrown@gmail.com, the student accounts will be mrsbrown+1@gmail.com, mrsbrown+2@gmail.com, etc. The master account will receive all the e-mails and all the +gmail.com Flashcard Machine accounts will need to be verified before students log-in. Use a spreadsheet to list account information, including passwords and addresses as well as which student is assigned to each account.